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Well, THAT was fun! MaddieLynn came through the surgery in no time and we learned that the surgeon had been homeschooled and he and his wife now homeschool their 5 children!

I know my husband forgot to tell you, because he's not the drama queen that I am, and frankly that would just be weird anyway, but the nice surgeon told us that we made it to the hospital in just the nick of time because MaddieLynn's appendix was nice and swollen with a big serving of GANGRENE on the side! You read that right....GANGRENE!

The last time I heard of someone having Gangrene it was on a documentary about a prisoner of war hiding out in a damp cave who amputated his own leg using a rusty fork...or maybe it was on Gunsmoke.

In any case, it turns out that 12 year old girls in small town Texas can also have gangrene, and if they do, then they can not go home as soon as other patients after having a routine appendectomy. Noooooooo....they must stay hooked up to very strong antibiotics and extend their stay at the hospital to make sure the infection has not spread.

All in all, it was an exhausting experience that I would like to never repeat. Which reminds me: Is it really necessary for the hospital janitorial staff to empty trash cans in patients' rooms at 3:32 a.m? Oh, and by the way, when you are told what time you will be discharged, just go ahead and tack on 4 hours to that time because apparently this calculation is used on all discharge procedures.

We did have one very sweet nurse from Scotland who said MaddieLynn was the best patient she had ever had! She complimented her inquisitive nature and well spoken manner and seemed all around charmed with her.

At one point she was telling us about some Highlights magazines that she had bought for her grandson, who hadn't shown any interest in them. I liked listening to her accent as she talked and she made us as comfortable as possible during her shift. She left at 7:00 p.m. when her shift ended and told us goodbye.

Sometime after 11:00 she came back into our room and I was surprised to see her. I said, "Hi, Margaret! I thought you had gone home long ago." She replied that she had gone home but now she was back to give us something. It was a large box of never-been-read Highlights magazines! There was one magazine and map for each of the 50 states! She said she was certain there would be 7 children who would enjoy them.

Her sweet and generous spirit was one small bright spot in our stay. I also appreciated my husband calling with updates on those of you who left comments with your well wishes and prayers.